Rebecca Cypess
Madame Brillon and the English Square Piano in Eighteenth-Century France
Tuesday, February 11th, 2025
10:30am-12pm
The English square piano, invented by Johannes Zumpe in London during the 1760s, became a wildly popular instrument among women of the middle and upper classes across Britain and France. One of its early adopters was Anne-Louise Boyvin d'Hardancourt Brillon de Jouy, a Parisian aristocrat and socialite who earned an international reputation as a keyboardist and composer. Brillon introduced the square piano to professional musicians who visited her salon, including Luigi Boccherini, showing how it could be used to simulate the sounds of the harp. Although her compositions were never published, Brillon's network of musical friends helped her ideas to permeate the public sphere. This presentation will introduce some of Brillon's compositions and show how she helped to shape her musical environment.
Date:
Tuesday, February 11th, 2025
10:30am-12pm
Location:
695 Park Ave /Rm 424N
New York City, NY 1002
Musicologist and historical keyboardist Rebecca Cypess is the Mordecai D. Katz and Dr. Monique C. Katz Dean of the Undergraduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yeshiva University. She is the author or editor of seven books, including Women and Musical Salons in the Enlightenment, and author of over 45 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Cypess is the founder and director of the Raritan Players, a period-instrument ensemble that seeks to recover untold stories and repertoires from the musical past. The group’s recordings have been praised as “simply mesmerizing” (Early Music America), “enchanting” (Classics Today), and an “unexpected treasure” (American Record Guide). Cypess has been the recipient of the Ruth A. Solie Award for an outstanding collection of musicological essays and the Noah Greenberg Award for contributions to historical performance, both from the American Musicological Society.